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Sunday, May 30, 2010

A summer weekend in Zambales

This is a long overdue post, so I might as well get started with it. :)

About 2 weeks ago, a couple of friends and I went to Kat's place in Candelaria, Zambales for some much needed R&R (and to also beat the rush because it was nearing the end of the summer season and we haven't been anywhere near a beach). I couldn't even begin to contain my excitement as it's been years since I last traveled on a whim.

I met with Kat & Lorna in Megamall, then we went to Caloocan to meet Fris so we can all purchase our bus tickets at the Victory Liner station in the area. We thought we could get tickets for the next trip, but unfortunately, the bus was already full & we certainly didn't want an uncomfortable trip as chance passengers, so we opted for the 12am trip.

The ride

What I like about Victory liner buses is that they're comfortable, specially for provincial trips. What ruined the entire thing (well, at least for me & my seatmate, Kat) were these bunch of teenaged chance passengers who made such a ruckus throughout the entire 5-hour drive. Alas-2 na ng madaling araw, ang ingay-ingay pa rin! What made it even worse was the bus's blaring sound system. I never had a decent sleep, which pissed me off several times over.

We got to Candelaria around past 4am, and I nearly got a stiff neck looking up the night sky with all those stars. It's very rare that I get to see such abundance of stars in the city, not with all the pollution going on.

When we got to their place, we just tidied ourselves up before catching a few hours of sleep. We initially planned to be up and about around 7am for an early head start to Potipot Island, but we woke up around 9am. It was that difficult to get our sleepy asses off the bed.

We met Kat's mom who made us great breakfast, by the way. I normally don't eat that much rice (diet mode, you know), but I simply couldn't beg off, not when food was prepared nicely.

Since we woke up rather late, we decided to forgo the Potipot trip. We also didn't want to fry ourselves under the scorching afternoon heat. Kat's folks suggested a beach within the vicinity (di rin naman halatang hayok na hayok na kami sa beach, di ba? LOL!), & before we knew it, we were in their car, & we were right at the beach front, inhaling the fresh sea breeze.

It was no Boracay or El Nido, but when you're from the city, any beach is as good as any other. We had the best lunch of grilled bangus, ensaladang talong, pork sisig & green mangoes. It was a simple meal, but I stuffed myself shitless & forgot I was counting calories. We waited until 3PM to wade in the waters where we played in wild abandon.

That night we took a leisure walk around town, & I was surprised that even though the streets were almost pitch black without lights, it was relatively safe to walk around. We chatted & told our life stories under the stars. It was one of the most relaxing, therapeutic activity I've ever done in years.

Potipot, here we come!

We still missed the initial plan to wake up early the following day. Since it was our last hurrah before heading back to the city, we just had to go to Potipot...sunburn or no sunburn!

Kat's folks took us to Potipot Gateway, a cozy resort just near the jump off point to the island. A few minutes later, we found ourselves on an outrigger banca, armed with sunblock & several bottles of water. We were off!

My first impression of Potipot was that of amazement. The water was so clear that you can immediately see through the sandy floor. The sand, albeit it didn't have the same powdery texture as Boracay's, was unbelievably white. The entire island was infested with tourists.

It was difficult to find a nice spot where you can swim in peace, not when there were so many people. What was even more annoying was the trash these people leave behind to wash into the shore. Whoever owns the island now ought to be more conscientious in enforcing cleanliness in the entire place, otherwise it will probably be as dirty as the other beaches.

We did eventually found a decent spot where the water was cool and the wind, strong. There was an upturned tree near the shore where almost all the tourists flocked to take pictures. If it weren't for our murderous looks, they'd have probably spent the entire day posing like there was no tomorrow. As if pag-aari nila yung lugar. Ugh.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Thanks to Fristine's digicam, we were able to indulge (or rather, Lorna induged herself several times over) in countless camwhoring sessions. I honestly swear that I can still picture the island & the beach & the cool waters up to this day. It's been a great experience, especially if you're with friends.

Many thanks to the Sales family as well as to Fristine & Lorna for an awesome adventure. Kelan ang susunod na byahe natin? :D

Now I just realized that this may be my longest post in this blog. Ever. I'm hoping the momentum gets in full swing sometime soon.

This is a long overdue post, so I might as well get started with it. :)

About 2 weeks ago, a couple of friends and I went to Kat's place in

Candelaria, Zambales for some much needed R&R (and to also beat the rush

because it was nearing the end of the summer season and we haven't been

anywhere near a beach). I couldn't even begin to contain my excitement as

it's been years since I last traveled on a whim.

I met with Kat & Lorna in Megamall, then we went to Caloocan to meet Fris so

we can all purchase our bus tickets at the Victory Liner station in the

area. We thought we could get tickets for the next trip, but unfortunately,

the bus was already full & we certainly didn't want an uncomfortable trip as

chance passengers, so we opted for the 12am trip.

The ride

What I like about Victory liner buses is that they're comfortable, specially

for provincial trips. What ruined the entire thing (well, at least for me &

my seatmate, Kat) were these bunch of teenaged chance passengers who made

such a ruckus throughout the entire 5-hour drive. Alas-2 na ng madaling

araw, ang ingay-ingay pa rin! What made it even worse was the bus's blaring

sound system. I never had a decent sleep, which pissed me off several times

over.

We got to Candelaria around past 4am, and I nearly got a stiff neck looking

up the night sky with all those stars. It's very rare that I get to see such

abundance of stars in the city, not with all the pollution going on.

When we got to their place, we just tidied ourselves up before catching a

few hours of sleep. We initially planned to be up and about around 7am for

an early headstart to Potipot Island, but we woke up around 9am. It was that

difficult to get our sleepy asses off the bed.

We met Kat's mom who made us great breakfast, by the way. I normally don't

eat that much rice (diet mode, you know), but I simply couldn't beg off, not

when food was prepared nicely.

Since we woke up rather late, we decided to forego the Potipot trip. We also